The Scattered Puzzle
by TC2
Summary: Buffy is trying to turn her life around as Xander and Willow's are crumbling around them. Meanwhile, Dawn is in the middle of it all. "Death of Spike Fanfic Challenge"


Title: The Scattered Puzzle  
  
Disclaimer: BtVS and all the characters belong to Joss, UPN, Fox,   
etc....  
  
Summary: Buffy is trying to turn her life around as Xander and Willow's   
are crumbling around them. Meanwhile, Dawn is in the middle of it all.   
"Death of Spike Fanfic Challenge."  
  
Setting: Near the end of season six.  
  
Warning: Contains possible spoilers for upcoming episodes.  
  
Rating: Rated R for both graphic insinuated violence as well as some   
gore.  
  
Special Thanks goes to Monica21 who beta read this for me. The nice   
spelling and big words are mostly her doing because otherwise this might  
read like Greek. :)  
  
Previously ("on Buffy the Vampire Slayer"): Xander meets a mysterious   
man claiming to be him from the future, and takes a walk to clear his head   
while Anya searches frantically for him. She confronts the man she last saw   
Xander speaking with, the same man who claimed to be from the future. Xander   
decides to go back to the wedding and talk to Anya but finds her   
missing with no one knowing what's happened to her. Meanwhile, Buffy tries to   
accept her actions with Spike and make the situation and her life right.   
Willow is thrown when she gets a mysterious phone call in the middle of the night   
claiming that Tara, who left Sunnydale for a time to clear her head,   
maybe in trouble with a sorcerer in L.A. who is trying to claim her Magical   
Energy for his own purposes.  
  
*This will sort of be a prologue that will hint at the story a little   
of my next fic which will probably be a long fic over many chapters. However,   
this is mainly a stand alone dealing with Spike... his desires, his nature,   
and ultimately his demise.*  
  
  
The Summers Residence  
May 13th 2002  
10:15 P.M.  
  
"What is the meaning of life? A question that many of us ask ourselves   
time   
and time again, yet it is a question that may never be answered, maybe   
because we can't answer it. What if we are not meant to know the true   
meaning of life? What if..."  
  
*click*  
  
Dawn turned the TV off and leaned back with a sigh. "Wow that was   
entertaining," she said out loud to no one before getting up and going   
into the kitchen for something to drink. She opened the fridge to find only   
an empty carton of milk, and some orange juice. Deciding that an empty   
carton of milk wouldn't be as thirst quenching as it once was, she pulled the   
orange juice out of the fridge and poured herself a glass.  
  
Everything that had gone on for the past year or so flickered through   
Dawn's mind as she took a swig from the glass and put the container back in   
the fridge. Her mother's death, Buffy's death, Buffy's resurrection, Willow   
and Tara breaking up because of Willow's misuse of Dark Magic, Giles   
leaving, Anya's disappearance, all of it. Dawn gulped down the rest of the juice   
and slammed it on top of the counter just as a man gulping down a cold one   
at the end of a long day would.   
  
Orange juice can pack a mean punch for a 16-year-old... especially at night.  
  
Right now Dawn was alone in the Summers home. Buffy was on patrol and   
Willow was...well, Dawn didn't know where Willow was. Actually, she didn't   
know where Buffy was either. The last time she had seen either of them was   
this morning. Willow had seemed shaken ever since late last night, when Dawn   
could've sworn she heard the phone ring. She tried to question Willow   
about it this morning, but couldn't get an answer from her. When Dawn got   
home from school she was gone as was Buffy. Dawn had gone upstairs to where   
Willow was currently staying, her mother's former room, but the only   
thing she had found were a few clothes strewn over the bed and a barer than   
usual closet.  
  
Now, Dawn sat on one of the stools at the kitchen table and looked off   
into the distance, her eyes wandering over to one of the many pictures on   
the wall, settling the longest on one of her and Buffy. She let out a sigh   
as her eyes fell back to the table surface in front of her. The tabletop   
felt smooth under her fingertips, and she made small circles across it until   
her hand roamed down to the scratch Xander had accidentally made after   
Buffy's death last summer. The toughest summer she had ever remembered. Now   
Anya was missing and Xander was a wreck. It had been two months since her   
disappearance and Xander was driving himself almost to exhaustion   
trying to find any kind of information from anywhere in town as to where Anya   
might be, hoping that some demon, vamp, anyone, might know something, but   
every night he came up empty.  
  
{This is where Xander would usually step in and try to rally everyone   
together.} Dawn thought.  
  
She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the door open and a   
dark figure waltz confidently in.  
  
Well, the figure waltzed confidently enough, until it saw Dawn.   
Distracted and a little annoyed, Spike halted and then sighed as he looked down   
the hall and asked, "Where's your sister, little bit?"  
  
When he got no reply, he looked back at her, "Littl.... Dawn."  
  
"She's not here," she whispered, before looking up at Spike, "and   
neither is Willow."  
  
"Oh," Spike said looking off to the hallway before continuing, "Well   
then, I guess I'll be on my way. Tell your sister I stopped by." Spike made a   
move to go back out the still open door. If it hadn't been for his   
vampire-accentuated hearing, he never would have heard Dawn whisper his   
name.  
  
"Spike."  
  
Spike stopped in the doorway and his gaze wandered, watching two   
teenage kids walking along the sidewalk. He had a brief mental picture of   
walking up to them and snapping one of their necks before sinking his teeth into   
the other. Then, he heard Dawn's whisper again, but this time more clearly.   
The smile that might have formed disappeared as he turned back into the   
kitchen.  
  
"I-I had..." Dawn started before cutting herself off. Spike shut the   
door behind him and took a step closer as Dawn swallowed back the lump in   
her throat before continuing, "I had a nightmare last night."  
  
"Oh," Spike said, before looking back down at her, "so did I, but you   
know what?" Spike asked and then continued before Dawn had a chance to   
respond, "Who the bloody hell cares?"  
  
Spike didn't expect Dawn's reaction as she fixed him with an unreadable   
gaze. "Who cares? How can you say that?" she asked him while getting up   
from the stool. "What? No, Dawn what I meant was...."  
  
"I dreamed that Buffy, Willow and Xander were killed!" Dawn practically   
screamed.  
  
Dawn's body language caught Spike off guard and he actually backed up a   
step. He looked at her a little stunned, but as she looked back down at   
the table, her demeanor seem seemed very upset. I tried to talk with her,   
but...." Dawn stopped before she looked back up at Spike and he nodded for  
her to go on.  
  
"But, I couldn't get her to talk to me and then I had to go to school.   
When Xander dropped me off after school both of them were gone. I   
haven't.... I don't know where either of them are," Dawn said with tears  
threatening to come to the surface.  
  
"What about Buffy? When was the last time you talked to her?" Spike   
asked, getting more anxious by the moment.  
  
"I don't know, she.... I mean, Willow...."  
  
"No, no, I heard you. Red's gone, but what about Buffy? When was the   
last time you talked to her? Was it this morning?" If Dawn didn't know that   
vampires couldn't breathe, she would have sworn that he was gasping for   
air.  
  
Spike waited expectantly for answers, and Dawn's silence became as   
oppressive as the calm before an oncoming storm. Then, she raised her   
head and shook it as her tear-filled eyes mixed incongruously with a little   
bit of laughter. Spike frowned and he looked at her with confusion.  
  
"Do you even care?" Dawn asked.  
  
"What?" Spike said, obviously baffled at her question before continuing   
with a hint of anger in his voice, "Of course I do! Don't you know that I'd   
do anything for Buffy?"  
  
"Yeah, I do," Dawn whispered, as she looked down and began to trace the   
scratch in the table with her index finger. The beginnings of a smirk   
started to cross his face, thinking she had regretted what she said,   
but Dawn wasn't finished, "and that's what I was afraid of."  
  
The smirk quickly fell, and Spike looked at her curiously, "Afraid of?   
What..."  
  
"You would do anything for Buffy," she said, and paused for a moment,   
looking back at the pictures on the wall, her gaze resting again on the   
one of her and Buffy, "and you probably would do anything for me too, I   
think, but...."  
  
"But, what?" Spike said a little angrier than he intended. When she   
didn't say anything he slammed his fist down on the kitchen table, knocking   
off the empty glass that Dawn had drank out of just a few minutes ago, making   
her flinch.  
  
Dawn recoiled in fear as she watched Spike's vamp visage come to the   
surface. Upon seeing the girl back away, Spike got another image of   
doing something much worse than what he had imagined just a few minutes ago   
from seeing those teenagers down the street, and it almost brought a smile   
to his face. The way her hair flowed down her shoulders, the way the blue   
outfit she had on exposed her neck just enough to see her pulse racing, the   
way she clenched her hands into fists to keep them from shaking; all of these   
made the blood in Spike's body scream out in joy at the waves of fear her   
body was sending off. In fact, he probably would have done what he was   
imagining if he hadn't, all of a sudden, focused on just who it was in front of   
him as her lips began to move.  
  
Seeing Spike in game face made Dawn really scared for the first time   
since she was taken by Glory last summer. But she was a strong girl, and she   
somehow found the strength to speak, "I-I didn't want to b-believe it,   
but now I see."  
  
Spike watched intently as Dawn took a deep breath before continuing,   
"That's the problem Spike, you would do anything for Buffy and possibly me, but   
what about Willow? Xander? Anyone else for that matter?"  
  
Spike smirked and shook his head slightly, "Just like your sister."  
  
Dawn watched as Spike walked to the door and opened it as he turned   
back around towards her, "Don't worry, I'll find Buffy," he said before he   
closed the door behind him, leaving Dawn alone again. At the moment he exited   
she walked a couple of feet to the window and watched until his shadowy   
figure and platinum blond hair disappeared into the night as she fought back   
tears.  
  
Finally, the tension was too much to bear and she brought her hands to   
her face as sobs escaped from her throat and tears flowed freely down her   
cheeks.  
  
**********  
  
Xander's Apartment  
May 14th, 2002  
3:45 P.M.  
  
  
"Are you sure you're okay?" Xander asked Dawn.  
  
She nodded slightly as she looked out towards Sunnydale from his   
balcony. "I'm okay," she said pausing for a moment as she watched a couple of   
kids play in the street, naive to what lay beneath the surface of their   
town. Then she continued as she turned around to face him, "though I'll be   
better when we find Buffy and Willow."  
  
Dawn had called Xander last night after Spike left, still in tears. She   
told him about Willow and Buffy not showing up and that she was worried.   
After she told Xander about the conversation she and Spike had, he decided   
that it would be best if she spent the night at his place so he went and got   
her. During the car ride back to his place last night, he told her that he   
was sure Willow just had to get away for a little while, and that Buffy was   
probably running late in her patrol and had forgotten to call. At   
least, that's what he hoped. Deep down, though, Xander knew something wasn't   
right, especially after Dawn told him about the phone call Willow had   
received. Still though, he didn't want to make Dawn more worried than she already   
was, so he had managed to hold his own rising panic in check as he looked at   
Dawn on the balcony. Then, she had turned around and spoken to him, making   
him really afraid. Afraid that he would break down in front of Dawn at the   
mention of the word "find". Something that he had been trying to do for   
over two months now with Anya. It seemed Dawn had picked up faux pas rather   
quickly too.  
  
"Uh, and Anya of course. We'll find Anya too," she said, regretting   
immediately the pain that flashed across his face at her mistake.  
  
"Yeah," he said giving her a half smile before he walked back into his   
apartment with Dawn close behind.  
  
A little apprehensive as to what to say next, Dawn took a seat in one   
of the chairs and looked up at Xander who went to the fridge and opened it.  
  
"So, what do we do? I mean, about Willow and Buffy?" she said, glancing   
at   
the couch that was scattered with old newspapers.  
  
"Well, I'll drop by your house to see if either of them have shown up   
and if they're not there, I'll check a few other spots," he said with his head   
buried in the fridge. He shuffled through the contents of what looked   
to Dawn like leftover Chinese takeout and pizza.  
  
"What about me? I want to help."  
  
Grabbing two sodas, Xander closed the fridge and walked over to Dawn,   
clearing some papers from the couch before taking a seat and handing   
Dawn a root beer, "You can stay here, where you'll be safe."  
  
"Yeah, alone safe." she muttered.  
  
"Dawn, if something has..." the moment he started he knew he'd screwed   
up as he cut himself off and tried to backpedal, but it didn't work. Dawn   
looked sternly at him while rising from her seated position in the chair   
beside him.  
  
"I'm going with you and that's final."  
  
Xander looked stunned at Dawn's sudden outburst before slightly   
smiling, "Did anyone ever tell you that you're as stubborn as your sister?"  
  
For the first time in two days, Dawn smiled. Even if it was a sad one   
it was still a smile.  
  
**********  
  
Sunnydale Bus Station  
7:40 P.M.  
  
Sunny Haggerty was whistling as he read the newspaper inside the bus   
station on one of the hottest days in May he had ever witnessed. Today had been   
rather slow as far as business with only a few customers purchasing   
tickets and those, like every other ticket, seemed to be of the one way   
variety, either coming or going. However, he knew that night, not day, was when   
most of his business came in. As Mr. Haggerty continued to read the   
newspaper he found it strange that in a town like Sunnydale, there were no names in   
the obituaries. In fact, to his recollection he hadn't seen a name in the   
obituaries in over a week and a half. In any other town, one would find   
comfort in that fact, but he was unsettled by it. He looked up suddenly   
as the doors flew open, sending the bell above the doors jangling about.  
  
Folding up the paper while he cursed aloud, he got up to close the   
doors. Just as he was about to close them he saw a bus parked out front. {What   
the hell?} he thought, looking up at the clock that read 7:45. Knowing that   
the 8:00 was never on time, Mr. Haggerty went back behind the counter,   
pulled out his twelve gauge Remington 3200 and made his way out the door with   
it in his left hand while holding a flashlight that he picked up off the   
counter with his right.  
  
"Steve?" He said aloud, calling out the usual eight o'clock driver's   
name as he made his way up to the side of the bus and shined the beam inside   
it, finding no sign of anyone on board, "Steve, I swear if this is another   
one of your pranks son I'll..." a noise behind the bus cut him off as he   
quickly turned around and flashed the light's beam in the direction of the   
noise.  
  
"Hello? Who's out there?" he said raising the shotgun a little as if   
ready to use it.  
  
That's when he heard a low whisper that seemed to be coming from all   
around him, "Sunny, help me?"  
  
Sunny's eyes were as big as saucers as he quickly turned around, waving   
the shotgun wildly, holding it with sweaty palms. "Show yourself you   
bastard!" he screamed into the night as the air suddenly swept a chill that was   
usually reserved for a cold night in January down upon him and made the   
hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Then, as quickly as it had   
swept down upon him it left as the warmness around him returned, along with   
the quiet.  
  
When he turned around he nearly dropped his Remington at the sight of   
someone standing about eight feet from him, but it wasn't so much that   
he hadn't expected someone behind him that scared him, but the fact that   
it was... "Sam?" Sunny whispered not believing what he was seeing.  
  
The man that stood before him was in his mid to late twenties. He had   
on what looked like an old 1950's pair of faded pants with a light blue   
shirt, but blood stains were all over the man's shirt as red seemed to have   
mixed with the blue. His face was thin and pale, that of one which you   
usually would find on an old man fighting for his last breath. His eyes looked   
almost like gray pearls as they stared back at Sunny.  
  
"God, it can't be," Sunny said with eyes wide.  
  
"Sunny, help me," The man said, clearly in agony.  
  
"Sammy?" Sunny said as he began shaking his head, "No, no,   
this...you're..."  
  
"Why didn't you help me little brother? You just let me die," the man   
said, as blood trickled down his shirt to his pants.  
  
"God...please no. This can't ....Sammy no." Sunny looked into the eyes   
of what once was his big brother, Samuel Haggerty, who was accidentally   
shot in an incident back when Sunny was only eighteen. Sunny's mind flashed   
back to that time when he held his then 27-year-old brother in his arms while   
he died. He would always remember the look on his brother's face, but that   
was in his nightmares. Now, he was standing face to face with that   
nightmare.  
  
"This isn't real. It can't be rea..."  
  
A laugh that eerily sounded like that of Samuel Haggerty to Sunny,   
penetrated the night air, cutting Sunny off as he swallowed back a lump   
in his throat.  
  
"Poor little brother, always the weak one weren't you? Never were one   
to be calm in a rough situation were you, Sunny?" said the man as his smile   
grew.  
  
Sunny found it hard to speak, but not hard enough to back up as he held   
his shotgun up high while doing so, "I don't know who or what the hell you   
are, but you're not Samuel."  
  
When the man in front of Sunny took a step forward, Sunny pulled the   
trigger and two shots echoed in the night.  
  
****************  
  
Stone Ridge Cemetery  
Ten minutes earlier  
  
Spike had been out since sundown looking for Buffy, but so far he   
hadn't found anything. He had just left Willy's where he questioned every   
vamp, demon, and human in the joint, but he had left with exactly what he'd   
gone in with … nothing. {At least I got some good blood for a change} he   
thought to himself as he walked through the cemetery on the look out. He walked   
along the many graves, most having old and cracked headstones. He stopped   
immediately though, when he came upon a fresh one. Looking down at the   
soil, he turned his head to the side in a smirk before folding his arms and   
taking one step back. About a minute later a hand exploded up into the air   
from beneath the soil as a man emerged in his vamp visage.  
  
Spike leaned against one of the trees a few feet away as a small smile   
played on his face while looking at the newborn vamp, "Well, aren't we   
a cute little bugger?"  
  
The newborn looked at him as he growled a little at Spike's comment,   
"Who the hell are you? Where's my master?"  
  
Taking out a cigarette Spike lit it and took a puff before letting it   
out into the air, "Name's Spike."  
  
"Spike? You mean, William the Bloody?"  
  
"You know of me?" Spike asked with intrigue as he moved closer to the   
newborn with a sly smile on his face.  
  
"Well, if it isn't the slayer's play toy," said the newly risen vamp,   
with the first sign of confidence in his voice he'd shown since rising as he   
smiled.  
  
The smirk on Spike's face was replaced with one of anger as his gaze   
narrowed at the newbie, "Awfully big words for someone just out of his   
diapers. Maybe I should teach the baby a lesson," Spike said as his   
vamp visage came to the surface. However, just when Spike was about to take   
a step forward he heard a gun shot go off through the night, followed by   
a second one and he turned his head in the direction it had come from.  
  
The next thing he knew he was on the ground with the vamp standing over   
him. Spike seethed in anger that he'd let this rookie take him down.  
  
"They said you were going soft, I guess they were right. My master will   
reward me well for killing you. She'll definitely be pleased," he said,   
growling with a smile.  
  
"Yeah, and I'm sure you'll take my chip for a trophy won't you mate?"   
Spike said rolling his eyes, getting a perplexed look from the vamp on top of   
him as he took advantage of the situation by sweeping his legs out and   
knocking the vamp off of his feet. Spike got to his feet and put his foot on the   
vamp's chest just before he was about to get up, "You've really got a   
lot to learn mate. So young and full of spirit. I remember when I was newly   
risen," he laughed as he looked up into the distance before looking back down   
at the vamp, "My first was this sweet little girl who had roamed away from the   
village one night. I'll never forget the night Dru brought her to me.   
Oooooh, what a night." Spike said slightly laughing before looking back   
at the fallen vamp on the ground. "You know what they say, you never   
forget your first. Too bad you're never get to know that feeling of the kill mate."   
Spike said while in one movement pulling out a stake from his sleeve and   
making his descent towards the vamp's heart.  
  
Spike stopped inches short as the vamp said something, "Too bad you'll   
never know the feeling again either," he finished with emphasis as he smiled   
up at Spike.  
  
Spike looked at the vamp for but a moment and then with anger flashing   
through his eyes he thrust the stake into the newly born vamp and the   
ashes dissolved back into the ground around the grave. Ten seconds later   
Spike got up, and slowly stalked off to investigate the gun shots.  
  
*********************  
  
Restfield Cemetery  
A few minutes earlier  
  
She was tired, lost, scared, sad, and more than a little creeped out.   
Buffy walked through the cemetery with all these feelings and more. She   
listened to the leaves as they were swept away by the wind and it made her think   
back to a time when Angel was still in Sunnydale and they were together.  
  
She knew that she was in Restfield and that the mansion that Angel used   
to stay in was just a few blocks from here, but as soon as she had thought   
about Angel he left her mind. More so than Angel she remembered this   
place in time that now she almost wished she could go back to. A place where   
that, although there were threats and she was still the Slayer, she was also   
at peace with herself even though she really didn't know it at the time. A   
place where she had her mother alive and by her side, and her Watcher,   
Giles. Now, however, it was a different story. She was more lost than   
she had ever been. Ever since her resurrection she had distanced herself   
from her friends. The same friends that she used to be so close to it was as   
if they were joined at the hip. Her relationship with Dawn was no where   
near what she knew it should be, and most importantly of all she had done so   
many disgusting things with Spike it was unreal. Spike and she had played so   
many games and she had been an active participant and let it continue when   
she could've put a stop to it. She had let Spike manipulate her, but more   
importantly, she had manipulated herself. She had thought that   
something was wrong with her and that was the reason why she had done all those   
horrible things with Spike, but after Tara told her nothing was wrong with her,   
except for her molecular structure being different, Buffy freaked.   
Then, after a couple of days she had come to the realization that she was   
never going to do those things with Spike again, and so she didn't, albeit   
with a lot of chocolate and friends. Not to mention the fact that most of her   
time was now spent helping out a deeply saddened Xander who was still trying   
to find Anya, but with no luck.  
  
Just about every night however, Buffy would run into Spike on her   
patrol. They would face off night after night. Each time Spike telling her that   
she was just denying her nature, denying herself life's pleasures. Buffy   
didn't want to admit it, but Spike was right to an extent. She had a very dark   
and wild side to her that was sometimes hard to control, but she knew that   
it wasn't what she's about. It took awhile to see it, but now she did.   
Fore, although her power is wielded in darkness she walks in light, a place   
that Spike can never go.  
  
Just as she exited the cemetery and was ready to call it a night, she   
heard a gun shot. Her head spun around in the opposite direction that she was   
heading. Just then she heard a second shot and in a matter of seconds   
she was running into the direction of the fired shots.  
  
*********************  
  
Sunnydale Bus Station  
Two minutes after the shots were fired  
  
Spike's vision was made for night, but even he couldn't see anything   
other than a couple of buses parked in front of the station. There was no one   
in sight and from the looks of it, the place was closed. {What the bloody   
hell was that noise then?} he thought as he walked up to one of the buses   
and peeked around.  
  
"I should've known. What, did you shoot off a gun just to get me   
running to you?" Buffy said with her arms crossed in front of her, while standing   
about thirty feet from Spike.  
  
"Luv, if I wanted you to come," Spike said while turning around, "I   
wouldn't have had to shoot a gun to get your attention. Well, unless it's the   
big bad's gun." he said with a wicked smile that made his tongue stick out   
between his teeth.  
  
Buffy wanted to look away after his comment, but she didn't. She stood   
her ground because she wasn't going to let him get to her anymore, that had   
happened once to many times in the past and it wasn't going to happen   
again.  
  
After he saw that she was not going to back down, Spike sighed as he   
looked up at the sky for a minute before looking back at her, "Look slayer, I   
came running as soon as I heard the shots too, so don't get your knickers in   
a twist. Actually, that might not be such a bad idea," Spike said with   
that same wicked smile he had but a minute ago.  
  
"You're disgusting."  
  
"But isn't that the way you like it slayer? You like to roll in the   
dirt. I've seen it. I've seen you ride like the wind. You're an animal."  
  
"I am not," Buffy said with a little venom, almost hissing it out.  
  
"The passion, the darkness. We both live in it. I've seen the way you   
lust for it."  
  
"I'm warning you Spike. Don't!" She said backing up as he took a step   
forward.  
  
"You know you want it Buffy. I can smell it on you. The fear, the   
adrenaline, the lust for the darkness," he said, saying the last part   
with a smile.  
  
Just as Spike moved within a few feet of her, Buffy kicked out her   
right foot and it connected with his chin, knocking him back a few feet.  
  
He laughed as he wiped the blood off his chin, "That's my girl."  
  
"You come near me again and you'll be able to fit in my Dustbuster. You   
are nothing to me now Spike. I..." Buffy looked down for a minute before   
looking back up again, "I was in a bad place. I didn't know if I was something   
wrong when I came back. Something evil."  
  
"You are, that's what I've been trying to tell you luv. You belong in   
the shadows."  
  
"No. No, I don't. I belong with my friends, with my family, with Dawn.   
I know that now. I can't believe it took me so long to realize it, but   
now," she said stopping for a minute and then looking at him defiantly before   
continuing, "Now, I know."  
  
"You're only lying to yourself slayer. You can't just give it up that   
easy. We're one, Buffy, whether you like it or not. I rush through your body   
just like your blood does. You still feel me just as I feel you. You can't   
deny it."  
  
"Maybe there is something flowing through my body that's somehow a part   
of you, but you know what? My body can be cleansed just as like my soul   
can. We're through Spike, don't even try to get back inside my head because   
it's not going to work. Just pack up and leave, now," she said sternly.  
  
"Not going to happen Slayer," he said, taking a step closer, "I'll   
always be in your head luv. I'll be everywhere you turn because deep down you   
know just as I do, that you thrive on the lust of the kill, even if it is   
vampires. You may not admit what's in front of you, but you will."  
  
Buffy stood there as she tried not to let his words affect her, but   
they obviously were. She slowly reached into the sleeve of her jacket,   
bringing a smile to Spike's face.  
  
"I told you that that one day would come and that I'd be there. So,   
Buffy," he said, letting his vamp visage coming to the surface with a wicked   
smile, "are you ready to dance?"  
  
Then as if the wind itself had commanded it, Spike leapt out at Buffy   
as she withdrew the stake and blocked his kick. After blocking his kick and   
ducking a punch, Buffy swept her legs out and knocked Spike to the ground.   
Buffy moved in with the stake just before Spike whipped out with his legs,   
knocking the stake out of her hands. He landed on his feet obviously a   
little dazed, but nothing substantial as he came at her again. This   
time Buffy wasn't prepared because when Spike went to punch her and she   
could only grab hold of both of his arms and he head butted her, knocking her   
back as she almost lost her balance. He then moved in with a spinning kick   
that sent Buffy flying into the air before landing on the hard concrete. As   
soon as she hit the ground, she felt her shoulder separate, making her   
scream out in agony from the pain.  
  
Spike hovered over her with a smile as he looked down at Buffy holding   
her shoulder and gritting her teeth in pain, "What's the matter Slayer,   
forget your dancing shoes?"  
  
"Maybe she just doesn't like the way you move," someone said from   
behind Spike as he turned around to be met by Xander's fist connecting with   
his jaw, knocking him back a few feet.  
  
Spike was upset for letting that ninny sneak up on him, but he vowed   
that wouldn't happen again as he turned back towards Xander with a smile   
while holding his chin, "Well, well, if it isn't droopy boy."  
  
"Buffy, can you walk? Buffy!" Xander shouted, while still keeping an   
eye on Spike as he held a stake firmly in his right hand. When he got no   
response from her, he looked over to see Buffy holding her shoulder and just   
staring at the situation at hand as if in some sort of shock. This was all   
Spike needed as he dove for Xander's stake, knocking it out of his hand as it   
rolled about thirty feet away. Spike grabbed Xander by the collar of   
his shirt as Xander struggled to free himself, but to no avail and Spike   
sent him skidding across the pavement.  
  
This act did not go without consequence however, as it sent waves of   
pain all through Spike's head as if it were about to explode. When the pain   
was had subsided to a tolerable level, he looked over to see Xander   
struggling to get up. Xander stumbled, clearly in a daze. Spike then looked over   
to his left to see Buffy staring at him wide eyes, and he smiled before   
stalking towards her.  
  
Buffy reached behind her for any kind of weapon she could find, but   
found none as she starting backing up as best she could while on the ground,   
with every motion sending shock waves throughout her shoulder that made her   
want to scream out with each movement she made.  
  
"Don't worry pet, it'll all be over soon," Spike said as he finally   
reached her and tried to drag her up to her feet.  
  
Buffy swooped out her legs to trip him, but he jumped over them with   
ease and pulled her to her feet with her screaming, "No," and trying to   
fight him back. That's when he squeezed her shoulder, drawing out a scream of   
agony from her as she went limp in his arms. Spike then turned her roughly   
around, sending another wave of pain through her body.  
  
"So sweet, this skin." He said while tracing a finger up and down the   
side of her neck, her back pulled firmly against his chest. "It didn't have   
to be this way Buffy, but you gave me no choice. You wouldn't accept who you   
are, but don't worry I'll show you who you are and more," and with that he   
descended to her neck with his fangs.  
  
It had been so long since Spike had tasted the trickle of warm human   
blood. When that first wave seeped into his mouth, it was pure ecstasy. That   
it was Slayer blood made it better, but this wasn't just any Slayer's blood,   
this was Buffy's blood. Someone who had been a thorn in his side ever since   
he had came back to Sunnydale with Dru. This was the person who was   
responsible for ruining every conquest he had as well as his relationship with Dru.   
He had done everything for her, everything and still she wouldn't love   
him, wouldn't be with him. He even offered to dust Drusilla for her, but it   
didn't seem to matter to her. This made the blood that much better as   
it went down and quenched a hunger that had been dormant for so long.  
  
Quickly something changed - a feeling. It was something he didn't quite   
recognize. He knew it had been awhile since he had fed from a human,   
but this was different. It was pain, and it wouldn't go away. Then it   
registered that the pain was in his chest, and he lost his grip on   
Buffy. Spike's eyes went from Buffy collapsing on the pavement to his chest,   
which had a stake projecting from it. Spike had always promised himself that   
if he were ever to get staked he would not look the person who did it in the   
eye to give them the satisfaction of letting them look upon him, but then   
again, Spike would never have thought that he wouldn't be able to hurt humans   
so it mattered not. He turned with the stake still in his chest to see his   
executioner as his eyes widened to the point that his pupils even seem   
to dilate.  
  
"Dawn?"  
  
As he said her name she was backing up, only three feet away, with a   
stricken look on her face.  
  
Then as quickly as the demon had taken his body, it left as Spike's   
ashes fell to the pavement.  
  
What seemed like an eternity to Dawn was actually only a few seconds as   
she was taken out of that moment when Xander's hand gently touched her   
shoulder, making her flinch. She quickly turned around to look at him and their   
eyes met. Neither could say a word as they exchanged looks before she dove   
into his arms. Xander held her for a few minutes before she finally pulled   
back and looked up at him, "I just killed Spike," she said in a hardly   
recognizable voice as he wiped away a tear from her face with his   
finger.  
  
"Dawn, you had no choice," he said looking her in the eye before   
looking away and letting out a frustrated sigh, "Dawnie, I'm sorry I dragged   
you out here. I should've never let you..."  
  
Dawn cut him off, "Xander, it wasn't your fault. I wanted to come, I-I   
needed to come. It's just...I-I..."  
  
"I know," he said cutting her off.  
  
Dawn looked up at Xander with a slight nod, before turning to look at   
Buffy and then running to her sister, engulfing her in a hug, her reward   
being an agonizing scream. "Oh, sorry," Dawn said, and she winced inwardly while   
pulling back.  
  
"It's okay, just help me.... up," Buffy said. Xander came up beside   
Dawn and they both helped her to her feet. Once she was standing, her gaze went   
to the pile of ashes. She fought back the pain from not only her shoulder,   
but also where Spike's fangs had torn into her neck. Xander's voice brought   
her back to reality, "Buffy, we need to get you to a doctor."  
  
"Okay," she said before taking one last look at the ashes and then   
letting Xander and Dawn slightly support her weight.  
  
As they helped Buffy while walking away, Dawn took one last stunned   
look over her shoulder before turning her back around to help Buffy. The   
three of them slowly disappeared down the street, Xander and Dawn supporting   
Buffy.  
  
Back near the bus station, whistling is heard as a foot lands near   
Spike's ashes. A hand reaches down and pulls something out of them. Afterwards,   
the ashes are swept up into a dust pan as the person walks back toward the   
front of the bus station. When he reaches the entrance he dumps the ashes   
from the pan into a nearby trashcan and walks inside the station.  
  
Making his way over to the flipover counter he tosses the small, metallic   
item into a nearby pan as it rattles around before finally coming to a stop.  
  
Then the man goes back behind the counter, picks up the folded over   
newspaper and flips it open as his whistling is heard throughout the   
station. When he flips the page, we see Sunny Haggerty's eyes flash red   
but for an instant as he continues to read with a smile coming to his   
face.....  
  
The End 


End file.
